Years ago, we used to say Republicans of good conscience must speak up. The thought was they were the moral conscience of our country. They believed in families, country and God — not that the Democratic Party did not, but the Republican Party was there first. What happened?

The latest attacks on our country, our families and our values, makes Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” as relevant today as it was more than 50 years ago when the letter and Civil Rights struggle changed this nation.

In the letter, King spoke directly to white ministers. Many went along with legal segregation, Jim Crow, lynchings, attack dogs and fire hoses being turned on people who protested the brutality of segregation.

King grew frustrated while ministers studied the word of God and knew better — but remained silent. He wrote, “Shallow understanding from the people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.”

King’s words are true today. We hear respected ministers making excuses for the bad actor who is president, who denigrates women, people of color, war heroes and the disabled, who kidnapped children to punish their parents out of spite because they dared to seek asylum here. King cautioned, “In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”

Donald Trump’s idea to “Make America Great Again” is to return to conditions of the pre-Civil Rights Era, yet many Americans are not so nostalgic for that period in this country’s history.

The church community needs to speak truth to power. If the truth be told, our president is out of control. His actions are called treasonous by some. Trump has tried to convince millions of people that reports of his actions with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki were a product of fake news. News alert — we heard him for ourselves.

Just because something is labeled fake news doesn’t make it so. Excuses like, “Trump acts that way because he’s projecting strength,” or “All politicians lie,” should not be condoned by people of good will.

Many Republicans swallowed the president’s claim that he misspoke in Helsinki. Instead of “I don’t see any reason why it would be Russia,” he claims he meant to say, “I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.” Changing one word hardly explains away more than two years of comments in support of Russia and Putin over our own intelligence community at the expense of this nation, while far too many faith leaders remained complicit in their silence.

“The power structures of the average community are consoled by the church’s silent and vocal sanction of things as they are,” King wrote. “The early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion. It was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.”

Had President Obama acted like President Trump, the same ministers who remain silent today would be calling from every pulpit in the land (and supported by most Republicans) for him to change, be impeached or even demand he quit the presidency. Yet, regarding Trump — all we hear are the sounds of silence.

Political leaders like Congresswoman Karen Bass however, are using their voices. In a call to action on Tuesday, she wrote, “This is a moment in U.S. history that I will always remember and one that we must respond to with resounding conviction, by standing up for our values, our country, and our democracy — even if the president won’t.”

I challenge all church leaders and all Republicans of good conscience across this nation to heed her call.

Cheryl Brown of San Bernardino represented the 47th District in the California Assembly from 2012-2016.